The Toronto International Film Festival 2015 documentary program presents a diverse mix of international works featuring a wide array of award-winning directors. The TIFF Docs line-up includes revelatory looks at celebrated performers like Yo-Yo Ma, Arcade Fire and Sharon Jones; fresh global perspectives on Ukraine, Haiti, China, and the Middle East; films about film; and loving attention to horses and dogs.
“Emotions run high in this year’s documentaries from passionate performers to angry protestors,” said TIFF Docs programmer Thom Powers. “These films truly command the big screen with their artistry across many forms of documentary — observational, essayistic, historical and investigative.”
Several films focus on music: Miss Sharon Jones! follows R&B queen Sharon Jones during her battle with cancer; The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble profiles the legendary cellist and his international musical collective; Amazing Grace captures the recording of Aretha Franklin’s best-selling album of the same name; The Reflektor Tapes provides insight into the making of the Arcade Fire international #1 album Reflektor and Janis: Little Girl Blue delves into the life of late rock legend Janis Joplin.
The worlds of art, dance, and performance are explored in films such as Bolshoi Babylon which looks at upheavals in Russia’s world-famous company; Our Last Tango chronicles the stormy career of Argentine tango legends Juan Carlos Copes and María Nieves; Horizon is a portrait of influential Icelandic landscape painter Georg Gudni; and Thru You Princess documents the composer Kutiman creating a viral sensation on YouTube.
The lineup includes a trio of films in which animals feature, including Heart of a Dog, a personal essay film by Laurie Anderson that explores themes of love, death, and language; Being AP, a portrait of legendary British horse-racing jockey AP McCoy; and Dark Horse, about a small town group of friends who take on the elite ‘sport of kings’ and breed themselves a racehorse.
Global current events make hot topics in several films. In P.S. Jerusalem, filmmaker Danae Elon confronts the tensions of living in Jerusalem after the death of her father, the writer Amos Elon. A Journey of a Thousand Miles: Peacekeepers, focuses on three Muslim women who join a UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti. Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom takes a closer look at the Ukrainian Revolution and the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych. Je Suis Charlie offers an account of the brutal attacks on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, while He Named Me Malala profiles Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager who survived a Taliban assassination attempt to become an outspoken, globally recognized advocate for girls’ rights.
The program’s global outlook can also be seen in Sherpa, exploring the uneasy relationship on Mount Everest between foreign expeditions and their local guides; Nasser, providing an in-depth history of Egypt’s pivotal and controversial leader Gamal Abdel Nasser; A Young Patriot, examining modern China through the eyes of a nationalistic university student; In Jackson Heights, offering a closer look at the diverse immigrant neighborhood of Jackson Heights in Queens, New York; and Return of the Atom, taking a closer look at the remote ‘nuclear town’ in Finland.
Four films intersect with the art and legacy of filmmaking. Hitchcock/Truffaut examines the importance of the epochal book that transcribed the 1962 interview between Alfred Hitchcock and François Truffaut. A Flickering Truth follows a group of dedicated Afghan cinephiles who are literally excavating their country’s cinematic past. Women He’s Undressed pays tribute to legendary Hollywood costume designer Orry-Kelly. It All Started At The End recounts the history of El Grupo de Cali, the prolific bohemian artistic collective that revolutionized Colombian film and literature in the 1970s and ’80s.
Films screening as part of the TIFF Docs programme include:
Amazing Grace
Sydney Pollack, USA International Premiere
Sydney Pollack’s film of Aretha Franklin’s ‘Amazing Grace.’ Filmed during church services in Los Angeles on January 13 and 14, 1972, the footage was never seen until now. Featuring Reverend James Cleveland, the Southern California Community Choir and the Atlantic Records rhythm section.
A Flickering Truth
Pietra Brettkelly, New Zealand/Afghanistan North American Premiere
As Afghanistan teeters on an unpredictable future, A Flickering Truth uncovers the world of three dreamers and cinephiles, the dust of 100 years of war and the restoration of 8,000 hours of film archive that they risked their lives to conceal. What surprises will emerge from the cloak of time?
A Journey of a Thousand Miles: Peacekeepers
Geeta Gandbhir and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, USA/Pakistan World Premiere
A unit of Bangladeshi female police officers leave their families to join a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti and challenge stereotypes about the capabilities of Muslim women. The film focuses on three of the women as they grapple with the harsh realities of becoming foot soldiers in a UN Peacekeeping Mission, and the pressures on their families left behind.
A Young Patriot
(Shao Nian * Xiao Zhao) Du Haibin, China/USA/France Canadian Premiere
This intimate documentary chronicles five years in the life of a young Chinese student, whose fervent idealism and dedication to Mao’s legacy stands in stark contrast to contemporary China’s turn towards state capitalism.
Being AP
Anthony Wonke, United Kingdom/Ireland World Premiere
Being AP is an intimate documentary portrait of AP McCoy – the greatest jump jockey of all time. As he passes his 40th birthday, an age beyond which most jockeys are unable to continue, AP contemplates his obsession with winning, the years of sacrifice that he has endured to become a champion, the chase for a 20th successive title, and then a future without racing.
Bolshoi Babylon
Nick Read, United Kingdom World Premiere
For the first time, Russia’s Bolshoi Theatre allows filmmakers full and uncensored access backstage. After a brutal acid attack on the ballet company’s director Sergei Filin in January 2013, Bolshoi Babylon follows the dancers and managers through a new season as they try to regain their status as the world’s leading dance company.
Dark Horse
Louise Osmond, United Kingdom Canadian Premiere
Set in a former mining village in Wales, Dark Horse is the inspirational true story of Jan Vokes and her group of local friends who decide to take on the elite ‘sport of kings’ and breed themselves a racehorse. Raised on a slagheap allotment, their foal becomes a source of inspiration and hope.
Dark Horse
Davis Guggenheim, USA International Premiere
Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Davis Guggenheim shows us how Malala Yousafzai, who was targeted by the Taliban and severely wounded by a gunshot when returning home on her school bus, remains committed to fighting for education for all girls worldwide. Providing an inside glimpse into her extraordinary life — from her close relationship with her father who inspired her love for education, to her impassioned speeches at the UN, to her everyday life at home.
Heart of a Dog
Laurie Anderson, USA Canadian Premiere
Heart of a Dog is a personal essay film that explores themes of love, death, and language. The director’s voice is a constant presence as stories of her dog Lolabelle, her mother, childhood fantasies and political, and philosophical theories unfurl in a seamless song-like stream.
Hitchcock/Truffaut
Kent Jones, USA/France Canadian Premiere
In 1962, two of the greatest minds in cinema sat down for an intimate and expansive conversation. Based on the original recordings of this meeting — used to produce the influential book Hitchcock/Truffaut — this film illustrates the greatest cinema lesson of all time and plummets us into the world of the creator of Psycho, The Birds, and Vertigo. David Fincher, Richard Linklater, Martin Scorsese and other legendary filmmakers add to the discussion of Hitchcock’s enduring legacy and influence on cinema.
Horizon
Bergur Bernburg and Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, Iceland/Denmark World Premiere
A documentary about the late Icelandic painter Georg Gudni Hauksson, whose innovative interpretations of forms and ideas paved the way for a renaissance in Icelandic landscape painting.
In Jackson Heights
Frederick Wiseman, USA North American Premiere
Frederick Wiseman’s latest documentary is about the diverse neighborhood of Jackson Heights in Queens, New York where 167 languages are spoken among immigrants from every continent, and half the population is foreign-born. The community is an example of America as a ‘melting pot’ settled and made strong by people committed to making their neighborhood work despite cultural and religious differences.
It All Started At The End (Todo comenzó por el fin)
Luis Ospina, Colombia World Premiere
Filmmaker Luis Ospina recounts the history of El Grupo de Cali, the prolific bohemian artistic collective that revolutionized Colombian film and literature in the 1970s and ’80s.
Janis: Little Girl Blue
Amy Berg, USA North American Premiere
Academy Award-nominated director Amy Berg reveals the raw, sensitive and powerful woman behind the legend in Janis: Little Girl Blue; the quintessential story of the short, turbulent, epic existence that changed music forever. Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) lends her raspy Southern voice to the film, reading Janis Joplin’s achingly intimate letters.
Je Suis Charlie
Emmanuel Leconte and Daniel Leconte, France World Premiere
On January 7, 2015, French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo was the victim of a terrorist attack that killed 12 people, including some of the greatest French cartoonists such as Cabu, Wolinski, Charb, Tignous and Honoré. The following day a policewoman was shot dead in the street. On January 9, another attack targeted the Jewish community. Four hostages were murdered. This film pays tribute to all these victims.
Miss Sharon Jones! (pictured main image)
Barbara Kopple, USA World Premiere
Two-time Academy Award-winner Barbara Kopple follows R&B queen Sharon Jones over the course of an eventful year, as she battles a cancer diagnosis and struggles to hold her band the Dap-Kings together. Additionally, TIFF Cinematheque will showcase Kopple’s film Harlan County, USA which played at the first Festival in 1976.
The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble
Morgan Neville, USA World Premiere
This film tells the extraordinary story of the Silk Road Ensemble, an international musical collective created by legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma. The film follows this group of diverse instrumentalists, vocalists, composers, arrangers, visual artists, and storytellers as they explore the power of music to preserve tradition, shape cultural evolution, and inspire hope.
Nasser
Jihan El-Tahri, France/South Africa International Premiere
Filmmaker Jihan El-Tahri explores the history of Gamal Abdel Nasser, the revolutionary army officer whose decade-long reign as president of Egypt saw him defy the West during the 1956 Suez Crisis, co-found the international Non-Aligned Movement, and suffer a dramatic defeat to Israel in the Six-Day War.
Our Last Tango (Un tango más)
German Kral, Germany/Argentina World Premiere
Argentina’s María Nieves and Juan Carlos Copes are the best-known couple in tango’s history and shaped the dance like no others. They danced passionately, loved and hated each other for almost 50 years, until one day they separated, and left a gap in the tango scene. Now, almost at the end of their lives, they tell their story for the first time. Executive produced by Wim Wenders.
P.S. Jerusalem
Danae Elon, Canada/Israel World Premiere
Danae Elon grew up in Jerusalem. After many years of living abroad, she moves back with her three young sons and French-Algerian husband Philip who are fresh to the city. Over three years, she documents their experiences, bearing witness to what makes Jerusalem so fiercely contested. A looming presence is the memory of her late father, the esteemed author Amos Elon, seen in home movies. Through the prism of one family’s life, the film exposes a complex portrait of Jerusalem today.
The Reflektor Tapes
Kahlil Joseph, United Kingdom World Premiere
The Reflektor Tapes is a fascinating insight into the making of Arcade Fire’s international #1 album Reflektor. The film recontextualizes the album experience, transporting the viewer into a kaleidoscopic sonic and visual landscape. The Reflektor Tapes blends never-before-seen personal interviews and moments captured by the band to dazzling effect, and features 20 minutes of exclusive unseen footage, filmed only for cinema audiences.
Return of the Atom (Atomin paluu)
Mika Taanila and Jussi Eerola, Finland/Germany World Premiere
Finland was the first country in the West to give permission to build a new nuclear power plant after the Chernobyl disaster. The film portrays the strange and stressful life in the small Finnish ‘nuclear town’ Eurajoki during an era of nuclear renaissance.
Sherpa
Jennifer Peedom, Australia/United Kingdom Canadian Premiere
Director Jennifer Peedom set out to uncover tension in the 2014 Everest climbing season from the Sherpas’ point of view, and instead captured a tragedy when an avalanche struck, killing 16 Sherpas. Sherpa tells the story of how the Sherpas united after the tragedy in the face of fierce opposition to reclaim the mountain they call Chomolungma.
Thru You Princess
Ido Haar, Israel International Premiere
In her late 30s, Samantha lives in New Orleans and works as a caregiver. She often uploads her songs and musings online and none of her clips get more than a few dozen hits. She doesn’t imagine that someone, on the other side of the world, is about to expand the number of listeners by millions. Kutiman, an Israeli musician, discovered Samantha’s songs on YouTube and weaves them with audiovisual symphonies composed of musical clips that people posted online.
Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom
Evgeny Afineevsky, Ukraine/USA/UnitedKingdom Canadian Premiere
Chronicling events that unfolded over 93 days in 2013 and 2014, Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom witnesses the formation of a new civil rights movement in Ukraine. What started as peaceful student demonstrations supporting European integration morphed into a full-fledged violent revolution calling for the resignation of the nation’s president. The film captures the remarkable mobilization of nearly a million citizens from across the country protesting the corrupt political regime that utilized extreme force against its own people to suppress their demands and freedom of expression.
Women He’s Undressed
Gillian Armstrong, Australia International Premiere
During Hollywood’s golden age, the Australian known as Orry-Kelly was a costume designer for an astonishing 282 films including classics like Some Like It Hot, Casablanca, and An American in Paris. As a gay male during a closeted era, he was also a keeper of secrets. Director Gillian Armstrong (Oscar and Lucinda; Little Women) employs inventive recreations, interviews and film clips to uncover his story.
Documentaries previously announced for the Festival were Brian D. Johnson’s Al Purdy Was Here, Patrick Reed and Michelle Shephard’s Guantanamo’s Child: Omar Khadr, Mina Shum’s Ninth Floor, Avi Lewis’ This Changes Everything, and Geneviève Dulude-De Celles’ Welcome to F.L. playing in TIFF Docs; and Michael Moore’s Where to Invade Next for Special Presentations.
The 40th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 10 to 20, 2015.
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The Orchard has released the poster and official trailer for the lost severed leg documentary FINDERS KEEPERS that premiered earlier this year at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and opening in select theaters on September 25th. FINDERS KEEPERS is directed by Bryan Carberry and Clay Tweel.
When his amputated leg is discovered in a grill sold at a North Carolina auction, John Wood finds himself at the center of a worldwide media frenzy. Believing the new-found attention to be his chance at doing some great things in an otherwise disappointing, wayward life, he’s quickly swept up in the hysteria as the leg’s enterprising buyer, Shannon Whisnant, then sues to regain its custody. But the stranger-than-fiction chain of events, fueling John’s drug addiction and compounded by generations of his familial dysfunction, soon sets John on the streets and heading to his certain demise. Just in time, however, another twist in these fantastical occurrences gives John a final shot at becoming whole for the first time in his life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfZEsctQNCI
CMT will air the original documentary, Johnny Cash: American Rebel that celebrates the life and artistry of the late Man in Black as captured through the unique perspective of his greatest songs. The film combines original interviews with his family and friends featuring John Carter Cash,Rosanne Cash, Carlene Carter, Eric Church, Sheryl Crow, Rodney Crowell, Clive Davis, Merle Haggard,Kris Kristofferson, John Mellencamp, Kid Rock, Rick Rubin,Willie Nelson and more. For the first time, Cash’s children, John Carter Cash and Rosanne Cash, along with June Carter’s daughter Carlene Carter, will appear together in a film about Johnny Cash. “
Slamdance will partner with the filmmakers of The Resurrection of Jake the Snake for the multi-city theatrical release of the 2015 Slamdance Film Festival favorite documentary beginning in Portland, Oregon on September 2nd. The Portland Film Festival will host the film’s release with a special event screening of the documentary and a Q&A session moderated by UFC superstar Chael Sonnen with Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Diamond Dallas Page and director Steve Yu. The event format is a key element of the film’s continuing theatrical release with personal appearances by Jake “The Snake” Roberts, filmmakers and special guests.
The theatrical release marks the initiation of Slamdance Presents, a new distribution moniker for Slamdance’s world premier programs dedicated to creating theatrical and other innovative commercial opportunities for independent filmmakers.
The inspiring documentary feature opened the 2015 Slamdance Film Festival and went on to win critical acclaim as well as this unique theatrical distribution partnership with Slamdance Presents. When The Resurrection of Jake the Snake screens at Portland Film Festival, it may very well be the first time two festivals have come together to support a nationwide release of an independent film.
Directed by Steve Yu, The Resurrection of Jake the Snake documents one of the most famous professional wrestlers in the world, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, as he battles his personal demons in a struggle to reclaim his life and the family that had given up on him. The feature-length documentary is also features Diamond Dallas Page and Scott Hall (aka Razor Ramon). Diamond Dallas Page is the film’s producer.
We’re thrilled that Slamdance believes enough in our documentary to pursue this innovative theatrical strategy,” said the film’s director Steve Yu, “As filmmakers we were fortunate to be at the right place at the right time, and capturing Jake’s incredible story was as compelling as any fictional narrative – except this was 100% real.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iwntL5wVWk
Find Tickets Now
Portland Film Festival. Portland, OR.
Wednesday September 2, 2015. 8:15pm.
Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan Portland, OR 97219
Tickets 
FRESH DRESSED, director Sacha Jenkins’ exuberant chronicle of hip hop and urban fashion – and their global influence on pop culture – will premiere as a CNN Films broadcast with limited commercial interruptions on Thursday, Sept. 3 at 9:00pm Eastern on CNN/U.S., the network announced today.
Produced by Peter Bittenbender, Nasir Jones, and Marcus Clarke for Mass Appeal, FRESH DRESSED traces how fat-laced sneakers, Kangol hats, Cazal sunglasses, and graffiti jackets inspired the style and vibe of rap artists and high fashion designers, through its expression of aspirational swagger that gave voice – and visage – to a culture whose passionate originality and artistry took the world by storm. The music-drenched, fun-to-watch history features interviews with music and fashion entrepreneurs from the 1970s, 80s, 90s, and today, including Dapper Dan, Pharrell Williams, April Walker, Karl Kani, Daymond John, Carl Jones, Jeff Tweedy, Russell Simmons, Sean “Puffy” Combs, Damon Dash, Riccardo Tisci, Guy Wood, and many more.
Deconstructing the evolution of the industry are VOGUE editor-at-large André Leon Talley, Kanye West, designer Marc Eck?, professor Elena Romero of City College of New York, professor Todd Boyd of the University of Southern California, and more. As the industry blossomed from independent, small companies to corporate mass market producers, it spawned a generation of innovative creators with successful brands such as FUBU, Rocawear, Cross Colours, Phat Farm, Karl Kani, and Sean Jean.
The film follows how the most successful brands often leveraged music and acting talent endorsements to generate brand awareness that commanded dedicated floor space inside America’s top department stores, Europe and New York fashion week runway shows, fashion awards, and hundreds of millions of dollars in apparel and accessory sales. Later, market saturation, fickle consumer tastes, and merchandiser resistance changed again in ways that challenged and eventually consolidated “urban market” apparel manufacturers.
FRESH DRESSED premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival where it was acquired by Samuel Goldwyn Films and StyleHaul for domestic theatrical distribution and, shortly thereafter, by Dogwoof for international theatrical distribution.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLCAh_qqrqE
FRESH DRESSED will also be available on Apple TV and will simulcast via 
“Back to the Future” fans will love this. Gravitas Ventures 
The official trailer is released for the Italian horse racing documentary Palio directed by Cosima Spender, that premiered earlier this year at the Tribeca Film Festival, where it won the award for Best Editing. The 
The 
The documentary EVOCATEUR: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie will premiere tonight, Thursday, Aug. 13 at 9:00pm Eastern on CNN/U.S. The riveting story traces the populist rise and rollercoaster career of the shock host who upended the previously polite and predictable talk show format forever. Before there was Glenn Beck or Geraldo Rivera or Rush Limbaugh, there was Morton Downey, Jr., who ignited the dawn of ‘mad-as-hell and not going to take it anymore’ television with conservative, provocative talk that made him a late night TV folk hero during the late 1980s. The film first premiered at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival.
Television innovator Bob Pittman found himself looking for a new challenge after launching the revolutionary, format-busting cable phenomenon, the MTV network. Pittman backed the enigmatic, bombastic Downey for a talk show that viewers found uniquely candid, oftentimes frustrating, ultimately addictive television. Archival highlights included in the film feature legendary Downey show segments with defense attorney Alan Dershowitz, Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX), Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, attorney/activist Gloria Allred, and Rev. Al Sharpton, in excruciating, extended deconstruction of the infamous, controversial Tawana Brawley case. In a rare exclusive interview, Steven Pagones, the white district attorney among those accused of raping Brawley, discusses how the infamy associated with that case – and amplified by the on-air debates between Downey and Sharpton – irrevocably altered his life.
Deconstructing Downey’s rise to fame are contemporary interviews with Downey friend and conservative icon Pat Buchanan, broadcaster Larry King, former talk show hosts Richard Bey and Sally Jessy Raphael, syndicated columnist Stanley Crouch, comedian Chris Elliott, and the team behind the talk show. They explore Downey’s appeal, as well as the personal demons that fueled his on-camera persona and behind-the-scenes battles with production executives and sponsors that ultimately led to Downey’s career immolation.
Along the way, the filmmakers reveal new insights into a persistent mystery about an incident that effectively ended Downey’s television career: did Downey actually stage a brutal attack on himself, allegedly by skinheads, in a misguided attempt to regain some of his notoriety?
The film will encore on CNN on Aug. 20 at 11:00pm, and on Saturday, Aug. 22, at 8:00pm and 10:00pm. All times Eastern.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUv6vG1W90o
The award-winning documentary A SINNER IN MECCA, will open in New York on September 4 and Los Angeles on September 11, before expanding to additional markets and VOD. Recently recognized with the 2015 Outfest Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature, A SINNER IN MECCA follows director Parvez Sharma (A Jihad for Love) as the openly gay Muslim filmmaker documents his pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, where filming is strictly prohibited and homosexuality is a crime punishable by death.
A SINNER IN MECCA audaciously enters a world that has been forbidden to non-Muslims for 14 centuries. The filmmaker documents his journey on nothing more than an iPhone and two smuggled, tiny cameras. On these never-before-filmed streets of ancient Mecca, he joins 4 million Muslims, from the majority, peace-loving pilgrims fulfilling a lifelong calling, to brutal jihadists for whom violence is a creed. They have all entered Mecca for the world’s largest pilgrimage: the Hajj.
This film unflinchingly showcases parts of the dangerous ideology that governs today’s ISIS and how much it has in common with Saudi Arabia’s sacred doctrine, Wahabi Islam. Cabals within the secretive Saudi monarchy have allegedly funded both Al-Qaeda and ISIS over the years. On the streets of Mecca, Saudi Arabia’s most famous son, Osama bin Laden, is sometimes referred to as Sheikh Osama, using the prefix for a learned Muslim man. It is into this Saudi Arabia the filmmaker, an openly gay Muslim man, enters. He is looking to find his own place within an Islam he has always known, an Islam that bears no resemblance to the bastardized versions creating havoc around the Muslim world, in almost daily battles in Europe—where the film will be broadcast by two of its biggest television networks, Arte and ZDF—and in North America.
With A SINNER IN MECCA, the Muslims of Islam are given agency to tell the complex, and now violence-marred story of their faith. And in their midst: a longing Muslim, already labeled an infidel, wondering if he can finally secure his place within this religion that condemns him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzshP2k5FMk
Award-winning film STORIES OF OUR LIVES that documents the hidden personal stories of lovers, fighters, rebels and the community histories that characterize the criminalized queer experience in Kenya, will open the 
A new signature film program devoted to animal rights, called Compassion, Justice and Animal Rights will debut at the 2015 Hamptons International Film Festival. The new program will provide a platform for filmmakers to share meaningful information, stories of inspiration, and tools for creating a safe and humane world for animals. Compassion, Justice & Animal Rights will explore this important movement on film, bringing together animal advocacy, environmental and social justice issues.
The Animal Rights platform will look to awaken respect for the dignity and rights of living beings, and will allow filmmakers to share information and tools to create a safe and humane world.
“Billions of animals continue to be abused every day and denied their basic right to life and protection against violence and cruelty,” said David Nugent, HIFF Artistic Director. “This new signature program will allow the Festival to join the important film movement that brings justice to animals, an effort that has been increasing impact and visibility worldwide.”
In 2015, the HIFF Animal Rights program will consist of a small collection of narrative and/or documentary films within the theme screened at the Festival, a private reception, and the Zelda Penzel “Giving Voice to the Voiceless” Prize, which will be awarded to one of these films at the HIFF Awards Ceremony in October. Past winners of this award, which has been part of our awards ceremony for the past three years, include Virunga (Oscar® Nominee), Emptying the Skies, and HBO’s One Nation, Under Dog.
This year’s Animal Rights lineup will include the world premiere of the documentary THE CHAMPIONS, directed by Darcy Dennett. The Champions is an inspirational story about the pit-bulls rescued from the brutal fighting ring of Atlanta Falcon’s star quarterback Michael Vick, and those who risked it all to save them, despite pressure from PETA and The Humane Society to euthanize the dogs. A story of second-chances, redemption and hope, this uplifting documentary takes us on a journey about much more than just dogs—about prejudice, being misunderstood, the power of resilience, and the significance of the relationship we as humans have with animals.
The festival also announced today that the popular Festival conversations held at Rowdy Hall (the series formerly known as the Rowdy Talks) has been renamed the Winick Talks at Rowdy Hall, in honor of the late film director and producer Gary Winick (pictured above on the set of “Charlotte’s Web”).
Gary Winick, who was a longtime fan and supporter of the Hamptons International Film Festival—he considered the Hamptons his second home—won the HIFF Audience Award in 1999 for his drama The Tic Code, starring Gregory Hines, Polly Draper, and Chris Marquette. As a director, Winick’s other films included Tadpole, 13 Going on 30, andLetters to Juliet; his producing credits include Tape and Chelsea Walls. He passed away in 2011.
The Gary Winick Memorial Fund, which was established to help young filmmakers hone their craft and further the art of cinema, will support the Winick Talks at Rowdy Hall. The fund previously created scholarships at the American Film Institute and Tufts University, both schools Winick attended.
The Winick Talks at Rowdy Hall will take place three mornings in a row (October 9-11) at the East Hampton restaurant, featuring guest artists in moderated conversation, with audience participation. Topics and speakers will be announced soon. The events are free, and the public is invited to attend; coffee and light breakfast will be served.